Mexico: Up Next! – Nicolas Celis

LOS CABOS – Prolific, still young, hard working, Mexican Nicolas Celis, – with the inestimable aid of brother Sebastian Celis, a former physics specialist, and U.S-based producer Jim Stark (“Stranger Than Paradise”) – is rapidly building Pimienta Films into a key and highly flexible production outfit as it drives to become, said Celis, “one of Mexico’s most important production houses, working increasingly in international co-productions, but always with auteur-driven cinema.”

Among Pimienta’s new productions, Celis will co-produce “Pajaros de verano,” the new project from Ciro Guerra, who topped Cannes Directors’ Fortnight with “Embrace of the Serpent.”

Pimienta is also a minority co-producer on Rafi Pitts’ “Soy Negro.”

“This is very different from his previous films, a kind of war movie,” said Celis.

“We’re betting a lot on long-term relationships with U.S., European and non-Mexican producers. The movies we do are not always easy to finance.”

One key to Pimienta, said Celis, is its flexibility. It has also overseen some inevitably challenging shoots, such as Amat Escalante’s “Heli,” a Narco-victim-themed Cannes 2103 best director winner, and Jonas Cuaron’s “Desierto,” which it executive produced. Being on set, Celis said, Jonas had a partner which allowed him to take decisions during the shoot.”

The Celis brothers are also consolidating strong lines in documentaries and distaff cineastes, which have seen to date arguably their greatest hits.

Celis produced “Llevate mis amores” (All of Me), first-time Mexican director Arturo Gonzalez Villasenor’s 2014 Los Cabos Fest Mexico first winner, a North America pick-up from Paul Hudson’s Outsider Pictures which also took home the only kudo, an audience award, at Jean-Christophe Berjon’s Mexican Festival in Paris. He now produces Arturo Gonzalez Vilaseñor’s ‘50s Cuba-set “Gunpowder Seeds,” a docu feature about an unsung hero of the Cuban revolution, betrayed by Castro.

Celis is empowering a growing generation of Mexican femme filmmakers. He also backed Tatiana Huezo’s “The Tiniest Place,” described as a “sublime documentary debut” by Variety, and now produces “Tempestad,” the latest from Huezo a standout at Morelia Impulso pix-in-post showcase in October, despite no official prize. “This is one of our most important movies, very personal, and a big documentary.”

Completing its production cycle at Los Cabos – it won a Gabriel Figueroa Fund development grant there in 2013, a production award in 2014 and now screens in new director showcase Mexico Primero – Alejandra Marquez’s Semana Santa turns on a young widow holidaying with on the beach with her young daughter and the new man in her life. The experience transforms their relationship. Screening at Toronto and Rio, “Semana Santa” has been acquired for worldwide sales by Mundial.

Meanwhile, Elisa Miller, best known to date as a director, who teams with Nicolas and Sebastian Celis to produce “Skin Deep,” a portrait of female sexuality deviated by a conservative social context, which marks respected video artist/docu director Paulina del Paso’s fiction feature deb. Miller and Del Paso wrote the screenplay.

“She’s very artistic, is very strong visually, did a great first docu feature “The Warrior.”

Of all the upcoming talent in the recent weeks in Mexico at the writers residency “Pueblo Magico”, at FLICC, the Latin American Forum for Coproduction and New Talent, in Morelia and at Los Cabos, producer Nicolás Celis stands out on many fronts.

Nicolás Celis

Of all the upcoming talent in the recent weeks in Mexico at the writers residency “Pueblo Magico”, at FLICC, the Latin American Forum for Coproduction and New Talent, in Morelia and at Los Cabos, producer Nicolás Celis (“Heli”, “We Are What We Are”) stands out on many fronts.

Nico : At 29 years of age, I have worked on 20 to 25 movies. I have learned my craft from the directors I have worked with like Tatiana Huezo and Amat Escalante, to name just two.

I have created my own unique creative process and have learned about financing and distribution as well as production.

SL: I noticed you work with Sebastian Celis. Who is that?

When our father died, my older brother who was a physicist wanted to do something with me. It was easier for him to go into film than for me to go into physics. We like spending time together. Really he is the perfect partner — 100% trustworthy: we won’t let each other down. We like the the same movies and both work a lot. Working with him brings us very close and we are more attached than ever and more interested in making long term plans. Working with my brother is very interesting. He can work well with the abstract and can understand ideas before they are totally conceived and then put those ideas onto paper. What’s beautiful about film is your background is irrelevant.

“Heli”

SL: What is your approach to producing films?

We always try to budget carefully. We aim to make the films for a reasonable cost which can actually be recouped. With low budgets, you can shoot quickly. We believe now is a very good time to make movies in Mexico. There is a lot of money available here through the various funding schemes, even if there is a lot of competition for that funding. With more and more people coming out of film schools that competition is only going to increase. So we are aggressively looking for private equity as well.

SL: How did you get into film?

I was never formally schooled in filmmaking. I was rejected twice by CCC (one of the top film schools in Mexico). In time though by helping to make shorts, I realized that I had skills that directors needed. My first short, “Ver llover” (2006)–I was unit production manager—was directed by Elisa Millerwho did study at CCC. The film went to Cannes and her second short—which I produced – went to Critics Week in Cannes and won the Palme d’Or She has returned to work with me on our upcoming feature “Skin Deep” which is now being presented as a project in development in Los Cabos. I came to realize I did not have to go to film school to be sought after. Directors seek me out now because we enjoy collaboration and they value my ability to work with them.

SL: What are your most recent and upcoming films?

I have a number of films that are in post production or just completed.

A private screening of the documentary “Tempestad” was held in Morelia just weeks ago in its first edition of Impulso, which is only for works-in-progress. The audience for those screenings is exclusively sales agents, distributors, financiers and festival programmers who want to see films that are currently in post-production. We have big expectations for that film . We are aiming at Berlin or Cannes. This is the second documentary film by Tatiana Huezowhose first doc, “El Lugar Mas Pequeno”/ “The Tiniest Place” (which I also produced) won numerous Best Picture prizes at festivals around the world.

“Desierto”

“Soy Negro” now is also in post. It is by Rafi Pitts from Iran and tells a story of migration to the USA from a different point of view with a Mexican touch. It has received support from the French CNC, funds from Eurimages, FFA in Germany, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenberg support, and ZDF/ Arte support.The Match Factory will represent the film internationally.

“Desierto” directed by Jonás Cuarón premiered in Toronto where it was acquired from IM Global for the U.S. by STX, the new China-backed company headed by Robert Simonds and Cathy Schulman. “All of Me“, the emotionally touching doc about Las Patronas, premiered in Los Cabos festival last year, won a top prize and was picked up for U.S. by Outsider Films from the new Berlin-based boutique international sales agent for award-winning docs, Rise and Shine.

“Semana Santa” whose international sales agent is Mundial was coproduced with Jim Stark, our new partner. He is the U.S. indie producer of the early Jarmusch films, Icelandic director Fridrik Thor Fridrikson, Bent Hamer and many others.

SL: How did you join up with Jim Stark? I used to buy his films for the U.S. so I am very interested in what he is doing these days.

Jim was giving a workshop in Morelia four years ago that I attended. Later, he introduced me to Rafi Pitts in Guadalajara. And now he and I are working together on a lot of projects.

Jim makes the same sort of movies we do and is also good at raising money and making international connections. He shoots everywhere and has a couple of projects in Turkey, is still working with Icelanders and even has a project in Africa in Ivory Coast.

We’re now working together on a Georgian doc and talking about other coproductions with international co-producers.

Tatania Huezo

We just finished “Semana Santa” together and are finishing Tatania Huezo’s new film “Tempestad”.

We enjoy the process of working together. We’re developing a couple of scripts based on novels we like and on our own ideas. We never know if the film will be a success or failure but we would rather have three years of a good experience working with directors we enjoy on projects we believe in than making “sure hits” or commercial films with directors we don’t get along with.

SL: You’ve done very well so far.

This is the most important year for us. We have finally established ourselves as an important Mexican production company involved with good directors. There are interesting voices in Mexico. We’re now expanding into minority coproductions to do post and at the same time looking at foreign projects at the script stage. It’s cheaper to work in Mexico than in Europe and Mexico is ready for coproductions.

It is a way to widen our reach. That’s why we’re working on Colombian Ciro Guerra‘s next film. His last film, “Embrace of the Serpent” (Colombia’s submission for Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film) is a Colombian-Argentinean-Venezuelan coproduction being sold by Films Boutique, a French-German international sales company. Its U.S. distributor is Oscilloscope. Its French distributor, Diaphana, is a producer as well as a distributor.

“Embrace Of The Serpent”

Our long range goal is to grow our slate of coproductions. We think it is our best strategy for beating the competition which is quickly escalating here in Mexico.

From our side we can offer all the opportunities we have for financing and the high quality of Mexican services and crew. Also the low costs here mean shooting in Mexico is not a big risk. But having access to international partners and getting additional funding from Norway or Denmark is very prestigious and increases the chances that our films will be seen and appreciated outside of Mexico.

When I can, I like to participate in international workshops, coproduction meetings and even residencies like the new one in Tepoztlan where I met you. I went to an EAVE workshop with ten other producers. We still keep in touch, we work together and try to spend some quality time together and when links with these other international producers are strong it increases the likelihood we can collaborate in the future.